Prince Harry Loses Legal Fight for Security in the U.K.

Prince Harry has lost a legal challenge to UK police insurance

The Duke of Sussex, 39, argued he should have automatic protection for himself and his family whenever they visit the UK from their home in California after British authorities revoked that right in February 2020, shortly after he and his wife Meghan Markle, retired from official royal duties.

In a statement in December, Prince Harry said he “feels compelled” to step back from his royal role and leave the UK in 2020, citing concern for the safety of his family: his wife and their two children, son Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet. 2.

However, on Wednesday, High Court judge Peter Lane upheld the decision by the UK government and, specifically, the Copyright and Public Figures Executive Committee (RAVEC) to reduce its security.

“The court found that there was no illegality in making the February 28, 2020 decision,” Lane ruled in documents seen by PEOPLE. “The decision was not irrational. The decision was not tainted by procedural unfairness.”

“The court also found that there was no illegality on the part of RAVEC in respect of its arrangements for certain of the plaintiff’s visits to the UK,” the judgment added.

Prince Harry at another court hearing in London in June 2023.

Neil Mockford/GC Images

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Prince Harry will now appeal the decision.

“Vojvoda is not seeking preferential treatment, but a fair and lawful application of RAVEC’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with RAVEC’s own written policy,” a legal spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday.

“In February 2020, RAVEC did not apply its written policy to the Duke of Sussex and excluded him from a particular risk analysis,” the statement continued. “The Duke’s case is that the so-called ‘bespoke procedure’ applied to him is no substitute for that risk analysis. The Duke of Sussex hopes to receive justice from the Court of Appeal and is not commenting further while the case is pending.”

Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Court in June 2023.

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

In December 2023, lawyers for Prince Harry objected to a February 2020 decision to end the prince’s automatic right to British police insurance. Although the Duke of Sussex offered to cover the insurance costs, the offer was declined.

In a statement to the High Court in London at the time, Prince Harry said he needed police protection to make his children “feel at home” in their native country – something he said could not happen “if there is no to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.”

“The United Kingdom is my home. The United Kingdom is central to my children’s heritage and a place I want them to feel as much at home as where they currently live in the United States,” Harry continued. “That cannot happen if there is no way for them to be safe while on UK soil.”

“I can’t put my wife in danger like that, and given my life experiences, I’m reluctant to put myself in danger unnecessarily,” he said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Whistler, Canada on Valentine’s Day.

Andrew Chin/Getty

Prince Harry is fighting for police protection in the UK, arguing the potential ‘impact’ of a successful attack

As the decision was announced on Wednesday, Harry’s father King Charles, who is being treated for cancer, was photographed being driven from his home in London. Prince Harry paid a brief visit to his father on February 6, flying across the Atlantic Ocean shortly after the news broke a day earlier.

Since moving to California in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan have only brought their children to the UK once: in 2022, when they attended Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee celebrations and celebrated Lily’s first birthday at Frogmore Cottage, their former British home in Windsor.

Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in June 2023.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

In December, the British government’s Home Office said Prince Harry would have “bespoke arrangements, tailored specifically for him” instead of the automatic security that other working royal families have, the BBC reported.

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Source: HIS Education